Steve Davies Online

The key to getting this done is to separate the review that you need to undertake to identify what needs to be eliminated from the action you will need to take to actually get rid of the offending items. If you are going to embark on this journey, it helps to understand the difficulties and roadblocks that are currently hindering you from getting this done.   

The "Tyranny of the Urgent" 

The root of the problem is that we are all driven by the "Tyranny of the Urgent". The quickest way to do something is to do it ourselves and we tend to do things that don't belong in our day because when they come up they are urgent and need to get done. Once the task is done, the urgency disappears and unless proactive steps are taken to find a solution to delegate it elsewhere, it will simply find its way to you again the next time it becomes urgent. 

For this reason you will once again find yourself having to take care of it yourself. We keep doing these tasks that are below our pay grade because they are always urgent when they have to be done. It is not because they require our expertise, not because there isn't anybody else who could do them, but because lack of planning means that there is nobody else primed and ready to take care of them at the time they need to be done.  

What we need to do is to think about them when they aren't urgent, take a step back and figure how to eliminate them when they aren't clamoring for our attention. This isn't easy, and the problem is compounded by the fact that a lot of the things that we do are difficult to remove. They may require significant work to delegate or eliminate them, and it is often easiest to take the line of least resistance and allow the roadblocks that we automatically put up to derail any change.  

One of the things that happens to busy people is that they don't take a step back to separate the identification of the things that should be eliminated from figuring out how to actually do it. When these two things are combined, the process is frequently derailed because it is too overwhelming. The analysis gets bogged down by all the reasons why it can't possibly be done …..but it doesn't have to be that way.   

Separating Review From the Solution   

This is a simple but all-too often overlooked concept, but if you follow some simple steps to separate review from action you will be amazed at the progress you can make.    

If you separate the review of what needs to be eliminated from the solution you need to find to get the task out of your day, it all becomes much easier to do. This is simple and may appear to be obvious, but our behaviors and the powerful resistance that we put up make it anything but simple to do in common practice. 

It is difficult to get things out of your day, and it takes some work. But it boils down to two simple secrets to eliminating inappropriate activities. The first is to separate analysis from action. The second is to write down every task  Imagine for a moment that you could free your mind from all of the reasons why something won't work.

Imagine that you could eliminate the obvious practicalities from the situation and dream of an environment where you were simply able to rid yourself of those limitations and imagine your life without the task that you are trying to eliminate. 

The rewards from this would be great, yet it is not something that many people sit down to do. It takes a little bit of work, but there is a simple technique that can help you separate review from action. What you will find when you do is that it is surprisingly easy if you just use a little discipline. 

The ongoing value is that if you can take this approach and apply the discipline regularly then you will start down a path that can help you make some significant changes in the way that you spend your time, the commitments that you make and the activities that you allow into your day. 

Step 1: Review and Identification  

Are you working below your pay grade?  You need to know the value of your time and use that as a prism through which you review all the activities that you take on. It is time to start to replace the grains of sand falling through your personal hour glass and ruthlessly eliminate everything that doesn't belong in your day.  

The first step is to create a process to identify and log things that you want to eliminate from your day. The key here, as with so many things, is that you must do it in writing and you must only log the activity and not start thinking about the solution. If you don't you simply won't be driven to take action and the identification will never lead to elimination.  

It may sound complicated, but all you need to do is to use the Time Edge Activity Elimination Form, which you can download from this site. The first part of this form is a box "Activity to be Eliminated", and this is the only part of the form that you should complete at this stage.  

Print off a stack of them in handy reach so that you can start a new form every time you identify an activity that you shouldn't be doing yourself. There are three ways that you can identify Activities to be Eliminated - proactive identification, reacting and daily review. 

Proactive Identification: Allocate one of your "quiet time" periods to sit down and think about all the activities that are in your day. Start by focusing on the value of your time and using it to identify the things that you do that are below your pay grade. Free your mind of all the reasons why activities cannot be eliminated and dream.  

Reacting: Whenever you find yourself doing something that you feel you shouldn't, write it down there and then.  

Daily Review: At the end of each day, take five minutes to review what you did that day it and ask yourself "what did I do today that I'd rather not have in my day?"   

Keep the Time Edge Activity Elimination Form close by for each of these exercises. Use a separate form for each task, and remember that you should only fill out the first part "Activity to be Eliminated". The rest of the form is a separate thought process.      

Step 2: Devising the Solution  

Once you have identified some activities to be eliminated, then as a separate process, you should sit down and think about a solution for delegating them. Set aside time when you feel fresh and at your most creative and look at the Activity Elimination Forms you have started and devise solutions for how to eliminate unwanted activities from your day.   

Use the Time Edge Activity Elimination Form and complete the second part to flesh out the Elimination Plan. The form calls for you to consider the following:  

How to be Eliminated: What steps do you plan to take. What is your strategy?  

Person(s) to take over responsibility: This is a key factor, as it is essential to pick the right people 

Date Activity to be finally transferred: You must have a clear action date  

Potential Obstacles: Take time to identify what can go wrong  

Follow up date: It is essential to have a check back date - delegate, don't abdicate.     

Summary 

 Please also visit our Fan Page on Facebook….  The Time Edge.  We are creating a community of people who feel that they could use their time more productively.  We’ll post ideas and invite people to share things they do that work for them. Become a fan and check back regularly to see what’s going on as this will be a great place to find and contribute ideas and techniques for improving your time management skills.  

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